• A former Airbus engineer plans to create a hotel using a retired A380.
• Frédéric Deleuze started making plans during the pandemic in a context of uncertainty about its impact on employment.
• Deleuze said the aerospace-inspired hotel will have 31 rooms.

A former Airbus engineer hopes to create a hotel using a retired A380.

The Envergure hotel, which means “scale” in English, will have 31 rooms and will be located five minutes from Toulouse airport in southwestern France, according to the project manager and former Airbus engineer, Frederic Deleuze.

Deleuze said he was inspired to start planning the aerospace-inspired hotel when the pandemic made him realize his job at Airbus might be in jeopardy.

“When you work at Airbus, you know you’ll be working at Airbus all your life,” he told Insider. But at the start of the pandemic, with widespread concerns about its impact on the economy and jobs, he began formulating plans for his own project.

The aeronautical engineer, who worked at Airbus for 15 years, always wanted to start his own business but the pandemic had him thinking about how he could use his skills elsewhere.

The aeronautical engineer said he was inspired to develop the theme for his hotel after learning that some A380s were retired.

The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, took to the skies in 2005, but weak carrier demand prompted the manufacturer to halt production in 2021. The last of the superjumbos was delivered to Emirates Airlines in December.

“It was like a crazy idea I had in mind, and I started talking about this project and getting some contacts to test the idea,” Frederic told Insider. Eventually, the project came to fruition, he said.

The hotel will use the hull of the retired aircraft. The engines will be removed and the interior layout of the aircraft will be replaced by 31 rooms including two suites. Deleuze said the hotel could be built in two years.

Rooms will cost around 130 euros ($148) per night for a standard hotel room for 2 people, while family rooms and suites will cost around 200 euros ($228) and 300 euros ($342), according to Deleuze.

Deleuze told Insider that the hotel will be connected to a “classical building”, where a restaurant and meeting rooms are planned.

Located in an aerospace hub surrounding Toulouse airport – which also includes Airbus headquarters and the aerospace-themed Aeroscopia museum – Deleuze hopes to attract tourists, professionals and aeronautics enthusiasts.

He could not confirm to Insider the cost of the project but estimated that it would reach several million euros.